Tell me why celebrities get to decide how we should look?

Why is it that when celebrities get plastic surgery, they all start to look alike?

Note to everyone: You are beautiful just the way you are - without fuller lips, cheek enhancements, botox, breast implants, and nose jobs. Let's not let Hollywood decide how we should look.

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Winter Driving Tips: bits of wisdom passed down to me

With our first winter storm approaching, I thought it would be a good idea to post winter driving tips. That, and a friend of mine who's unfamiliar with winter driving wanted some tips.

So here are some bits of wisdom passed down from so many others (mainly my dad) to me about winter driving. Most of these are "Duh" kind of tips, because in reality, we're all like "I could have told you that." But often times we forget and winter driving is no time to forget these things.
So here are tips for winter driving!

Items all winter drivers need:

• Collapsible shovel you can keep in your car in the event you need to dig yourself out.
• Blankets. Plural. Or a sleeping bag that has a low temperature resistance.
• Warm clothing and accessories - warm winter boots, hats, mittens, scarves, coats, snowpants, etc.
• Reflective/bright colored material.
• Winter Emergency Kit: ("recipe" coming.)

Car Maintenance and Preparation:

• FICTION: Four-Wheel/All-Wheel vehicles drive better in winter conditions. You can drive faster, break faster, turn faster, and do everything faster than everyone else in the winter. FACT: It's not the car that's the problem - it's your driving and the conditions. You should practice the same winter driving techniques in all cars.
• Good Tires are key! If you don't live in a state where chains are allowed (and even if you do), a big part of keeping control of your vehicle in the winter is having good tires! Make sure the treads aren't too worn down and keep the correct air pressure. (Duh. Shouldn't that be standard for every-day driving, anyway?)
• Good windshield wipers! Michelin brand has always worked best for me.
• Windshield wiper fluid for sub-freezing temperatures! (Warning: don't use your wiper fluid to try to clear the windshield of frost if your shield is still freezing. It just doesn't work as nicely as you thought it would, at least, in my experience.)
• Spraying vinegar on your windshield the night before a freeze will keep away the frost! There's definitely something to be said for not having to scrape your car!
• However, the best thing for your car before you go anywhere is that you give it adequate time to warm up. (This is where having a remote car starter comes in really handy. Too bad I still don't have one!) If you give your car enough time to warm up and put your blowers on defrost and blast the heat, you probably won't have to do any scraping and you'll have a warm car to get into in the morning! (Or afternoon. Or whatever time it is.)
• Try to keep at least a half of a tank of gas in the winter. I know, I know, it requires more stops at the gas station, but it helps make sure your gas lines don't freeze up.
• On nights when it gets in the double-digit negatives, it's best to start your car in the night, let it run for 5-10 minutes, and then turn it off. It will help it start easier in the morning.
• If you have a plug-in for your car from your engine, DO!
• If your state likes to use salt to keep the roads clear, your car is going to get really salty really fast. And what does salt love to do to vehicles? Rust them. Wash your car on a regular basis. Weekly is usually best. And if you're smart, you can find gas stations that have a day of the week that they give discounted car washes. Tuesday is two-for-one day at the gas station I usually go to, so I'll buy two at a time, since they're good for something like a month.
• After you wash your car, I like to take a towel (I keep a towel usually somewhere in my car) and dry off anything that will eventually need to "move", like key holes, door handles, my side rearview mirrors, around my trunk, etc., so that the water doesn't freeze them into place. This can also be helped by spraying WD-40 on them. (See next item)
• Your keyholes and door handles are going to be a problem usually after it snows or ices. As in, you might not even be able to get your key in! Keep a can of WD-40 accessible (in your garage, house, apartment, etc.) so that when you get out to your car and all the sudden you find you can't turn your key to get into your car, you can just go grab the can, spray some in the keyhole, and open the door!
  

Before you travel:

• Be Prepared! Thank you, Boy Scouts of the World, for this truth. Make sure to equip your car with a winter emergency kit (see "recipe" above.)
• If the weather's bad, don't chance it. Better to be safe than dead, right?
• Winter driving takes a lot more focus than your typical drive. Make sure you are rested enough, don't let unnecessary things distract you (phone, texts, music, etc.), and DO NOT drive under any influence!
• Time: a commodity we all seem to need more of. But when it comes to winter driving, don't try to squeeze 20 minutes into 15. Although you may think you have only a 20 minute drive, it could easily turn into an hour. Make sure to plan extra time, and if you ARE running late, just accept the fact you will be late and *don't* hurry.
• Check your route to see if there are any road closures. Usually every state's DOT has a website where you can check on these things. Also check the weather for your route! You never know when an ice storm or snow storm will blow through. (I've been victim to this on more than one occasion.)

WHILE YOU TRAVEL:

• Anytime it snows or ices, the roads are (obviously) going to be slippery. Be cautious of the roads, testing them by slight braking when you have enough space between cars. Be particularly careful on bridges, as ice can form on them when other parts of the road are clear.
• Seeing snow on the road is much easier, but it's the black ice that's much trickier, since it's so much more difficult to see. Keep an eye out for reflections or darker patches on the road. Black ice happens when the moisture from automobile exhaust condenses on the road surface or when the air temperature is above freezing, but the pavement's temperature is below freezing.
• When you're braking, it's a good idea to shift the car into neutral. The reasoning? When your car is in drive, the transmission automatically torques the car forward, as in neutral, it won't. So when you're slowing down, it helps the car come to a stop better if you shift it into neutral. (This is more important on cars without Anti-lock breaks, since you're manually pumping the breaks to come to a stop.)
• Get in the habit of driving with your headlights on all the time. If it's snowing at night, just like fog, it's better to keep your headlights on dim.
• Don't use cruise control! I know it's so handy to have it for long trips, but your foot is just that much farther away from the break pedal should you need to use it - and in the winter, miliseconds count.
• Don't power up hills. Applying extra gas on snow-covered roads just starts your wheels spinning. Try to get a little inertia going before you reach the hill and let that inertia carry you to the top. As you reach the crest of the hill, reduce your speed and proceed down hill as slowly as possible.
• Don't stop going up a hill. There's nothing worse than trying to get moving up a hill on an icy road. Get some inertia going on a flat roadway before you take on the hill.
• Don't stop if you can avoid it. There's a big difference in the amount of inertia it takes to start moving from a full stop versus how much it takes to get moving while still rolling. If you can slow down enough to keep rolling until a traffic light changes, do it.
• Go slow, be alert, and keep a farther distance between you and the people around than what you normally would. Yes, folks, it is that simple. Truth is, is that so many of the accidents that happen are simply because people are going to fast, or are not alert enough, or both, and then when they try to hit the breaks, they can't break in time, and either go sliding into the person in front of them or sliding off the road. The rule of thumb of 3-4 seconds space between you and the person in front of you should now double to 8 seconds.
• As a rule of thumb, do everything slower than you normally would: slower speeds, slower acceleration, slower steering, and slower braking. Don't make sudden moves. If you give yourself time and space, you should be able to slow down without breaking hard. Don't make quick lane changes, sharp turns, etc., because if you hit a patch of ice, you can bet that you're going to end up in the ditch, hitting another car, or worse.

WHAT IFS:

• If you get stuck in the snow DO NOT hit the gas as hard as it can go. This will actually cause more heat from the friction of the snow and tires and will create ice and smoke, thus getting you "stuck" even further. Start by digging out a path around the tires. The put your car into its lower gear and slowly press the gas. The key here is traction, not friction. If you need to, you can try rocking the car back and forth by shifting between drive and reverse.
• If you feel your car going out of control, don't make any sudden movements to try to regain control. It's best to take your foot off the gas and not apply the brakes, or if you do, apply slowly. Again, slower speeds, slower acceleration, slower steering, and slower braking will help you regain control.
• If you end up driving in a blizzard, the saying "better safe than sorry" is most important here. If you are too nervous driving in those conditions, don't. Pull over and put your flashers on. Your adrenaline will actually hinder your ability to keep from sudden movements, rather than keep you alert, since safe driving in the winter requires lots of slow movements. You can always call the state patrol for assistance, if you aren't comfortable driving in those conditions.
• a) If you're ok driving, but are still having a hard time seeing things, check if there is anyone around you. If there is, the best idea is to follow them at a safe distance. Watch for breaklights and headlights. If not, you can wait until there is, or if you don't think there will be, consider how long it is until the next exit/town where you can pull over and stay somewhere. It's best to get to a place where you can stay until the storm passes.
• b) Have you ever heard of "Don't crowd the plow"? It's true. Give them space. But in a blizzard, following them is the best thing you can do! The theory goes like this: The snowplows are clearing the roads at the fastest pace as safety will allow for them, and they probably have far better equiped vehicles for winter driving than you do. So by passing them, you lose the roads that have already been cleared and are going far faster than what is reasonably safe for you.
• If you go into the ditch with no one around, and you can't dig yourself out, WAIT IN YOUR CAR! Also, (Thanks Mythbusters for proving this), drinking alcoholic beverages is not good to help with warmth! (See winter survival kit info!) Tie something bright colored around a high point on your vehicle (Usually your antennae), and if you can, put reflective cones on the shoulder of the road.
• If you see someone in the ditch, stop and ask if they need assistance! Cell phones don't have coverage everywhere, and some people *still* don't have them. Offer them the chance to sit in your warm car while they wait for help.

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Oh, Death, where is thy sting? ...well, sometimes, it does.

2 Years and just under a month ago. His death was ushered in by the cold winds of winter, flakes being tossed towards the ground in a freezing whoosh of air. That day of his memorial service, gloomy clouds loomed over us, seeming to note just how we felt. His death was a loss none of us was willing to bare, but bare we did, because we must. In that year and four months, my cousins grew from boys to men. My aunt. There are no words I can use that begins to describe her strength, her love, her devotion.

The morning of his funeral, I sat in the front, wishing I could cower in the back. I did not wish to witness this. I did not wish to endure it. It wasn't necessarily my own pain that I wished to escape, but the incredible desire to not see people so close to my heart in more pain than I. It was a beautiful funeral, in a beautiful Catholic church, with stained glass windows and hard tile that made my heels clank along the steps as we walked to our seats. The scents of the hundreds of flowers that filled the sanctuary and the incense is burned crisp into my memory, just like that crisp October morning. I don't remember much about what was said. I don't remember much about what we did. All I remember is sitting and standing, biting my lip trying to keep my thousands of tears from spilling over like water just released from a dam.

There are things you just don't forget. Moments in time that are burned into your memory like a brand on a calf. You don't forget the details. The tree was practically in its full autumnal color, rich with orange and golden leaves floating down to the ground, the sky blue after its gloom from the night before.

I still hear my aunts sobs as she said her final goodbye upon that green hill. My cousins aren't typically "huggers." But the hugs we gave each other that day said just as much as a thousand little hugs we've given through the years.

We've endured thanksgivings and Christmas's without him. We've endured what would have been his birthday. We've endured summers lacking his boat driving expertise as we are wakeboarding and waterskiing, fishing expertise, camping and hunting expertise, ice-cream eating expertise, and that "That's so uncle Karl" humor.
Yet each year his death's sting doesn't lessen. It still hurts that he isn't with us. Heaven called his name, but too many times have I sat and ached for his company during family gatherings. And every time I think to myself "If it's this painful for me, then how painful is it really for my cousins and aunt?"

In the past 7 days, my family said goodbye to one of our own, my best friend said goodbye to her grandfather, and a co-worker said goodbye to a close friend. It's been one of those weeks. You know. The kind that you start thinking about your own life in a way that typically doesn't come about. The kind that makes me start thinking of how I'm living my own life, how much my friends and family mean to me, and the urgency to spread the hope that those who believe in Jesus Christ and accept the oh-so-precious gift that is forgiveness will be reunited with each other in a land that will be so far beyond our best dreams and wildest imaginations.

If you don't know what it's like to hope beyond all doubts, to have a faith in someone that will always be with you and take care of you, even beyond death, then seek and understand who Jesus Christ REALLY is, what he did, and what that means for you if you accept what he has given you...life beyond death!
1 Corinthians 15:
55 “ O Death, where is your sting?
O Hades, where is your victory?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.
57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.

*For my dear Uncle Karl,
we miss you. And we look forward to the day where we may see you again! Save me some steak & crab legs up there, ok? With so much love.

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It's more than just dance. It's learning about life.

TLC has recently come out with a new show called Dance Moms. I've watched a couple episodes here and there. And while I'm not here to discuss the ups and many downs of the show, I thought to myself just how much I do not want my "dance world" today to be like that show. I think both the coaches and the mom's have their good and bad moments. But the biggest issue with that show is a lack of respect. A lack of respect for the people, a lack of respect for dance, a lack of respect for the dancers themselves. It's not pretty. And as a coach, that's something I will not allow to happen.


(The Century Centahnas with our trophy at the West Fargo Packatahna Invitational, December 2004.)

When I was a Centahna, our biggest rivals were the Bismarck Demonettes. (For those of you saying "What's a Centahna and a Demonette?"...They are school dance team names/mascots. As a dancer on the Century High School Dance Team, I was a Centahna. Get it? Ok. Awesome.) Our coaches made sure that we acted beyond our years, even when the Demonettes did things that, well, are childish and stupid and mean against us...even when they placed better than we did...and even when we placed better than they did. We were taught the most important thing that good sportsmanship teaches: respect. It wasn't always easy. But as I'd find out...it was worth it.


(This is Desi and the JV Demonettes. I know I have a better photo, but it's somewhere in my Twitter archives and I can't dig that deep to find it right now.)

Today, I am friends with a former Demonette. I believe we even competed against each other. She's the assistant coach of the JV Demonette dance team. But as we soon found out, we are both really awesome people that don't hate each other. And there's that other thing too. The "dancer" bond. It's something that feels like an exclusive club. When I find somebody else who dances, it's like we're part of this special group of people that understands exactly what it means to be a dancer.


(This is during one of our many Saturday practices. We're working to perfect our kick routine here! Our competition season is only 3 months long, but we had required technique workshops, required summer training including running and pilates 6 days/week, and required dance camp. Then our "season" practices went from August all the way through March. Even after that, the seniors still got together to practice for our senior routine.)
The life of a dancer is full of so many struggles. We often practice longer than any other sports team practices. I remember some of my practices during high school went sometimes 6 hours. That wasn't including the early morning practices before school, and the two and three-a-day practices we had every Saturday pre-State meet. We spend hours perfecting the tiniest of details. (Are palms facing in or out? Are we looking towards the crowd or to the corner?) We spend hours training or bodies for strength, stamina, balance, flexibility. And we better be good at all of it, because without one you fail to train yourself properly.

(We always began our practice by running the caterpillar run for around 10-15 minutes before practice. If it wasn't that, it was stair runs, followed by ab and muscle work for another 15-30 minutes. Then stretching for another 15-20. Yay for hour long warmups.)


(But all of that hard work pays off when you can do this. And a lot of other cool looking stuff, too.)



(Here I am before walking onto the floor. This is usually about when my legs started to feel like jello.)
And it's not just the training that makes it, either. It's the nerves that make you feel like jello before the music begins. It's the adrenaline rush you feel when you're out on the floor performing. It's the elation when you hit the perfect routine, or the frustration that comes after miskicks or a less-than-perfect turn sequence. It's the costumes, the sparkle, the makeup, the music, the smell of hairspray and the sound of the crowd cheering.

(Here's the end of the kick routine at the WF Packatahna Invitational. The feeling you get when the crowd erupts after the routine is done is like none other.)

This makes all of us dancers connected. Since high school, I've been blessed in meeting people and when realizing we have that connection. It's fun to talk dance, what routines we've done, what it was like.


(Our pizza party last night!)
This is what I told my girls last night as we ate some pizza getting ready for the competition tomorrow. I told them that, even though Champion may be stuck up snobs who act horrible to everyone else, we will cheer them on anyway. Because a few years down the road after they graduate high school and experience college life, they will probably meet and become friends with some of these girls.



And in the end, it doesn't matter who wins. But what does matter is respect. What does matter is how hard you worked. What matters is your attitude and how you act. Because in the end, being a dancer is to be part of a family. You may have your fights and your arguments, and you may get extremely irritated at them...but they are family.

(I know I certainly consider these girls family. Most of us still keep in contact.)

I hope and pray that my dancers learn that respect is far more important than winning. It's important for them to respect themselves and respect others as dancers.
And all together, dance isn't just about dancing. What they learn in these next few years of their lives will dictate what kind of people they will become. And I hope and pray that as their dance coach, I will teach them not just how to dance, not just different routines, but teach and show them life lessons.



In other news:
I packed what I believe is to be the best "dance emergency kit" ever. if there's something that I need that's not in this bag, I must have made a serious misstep, because I could swear I have everything they could possibly need! And you really don't want to know just how much I spent on all of this. Let's just say the Vikings could have had another cheerleader in the stands if it wasn't for this. ;-)

So here's to tonight, the life lessons I hope they learn, and the coach I aspire to be!

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